‘A different country’ - the organisation of the Ipswich Railway Workshops

Thom BLAKE and David MEWES

Blake, T. and Mewes, D. 2020. ‘A different country’ – the organisation of the Ipswich Railway Workshops. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum – Culture 5(1): 53-76. Brisbane. ISSN 1440-4788.

Railway Workshops such as those at Ipswich were distinctive as industrial complexes. They developed an ethos and character that set them apart from other enterprises such as engineering works, shipyards, foundries or factories. The Ipswich Workshops had the capacity to undertake a wide range of work. Indeed, for generations of employees it was a source of great pride that the Workshops were capable of making anything. ‘If it could be made, it could be made in the Workshops’ was a slogan often repeated and demonstrated by the range of items manufactured there.

 Railway, workshop, locomotive, union, manufacture, industrial, heritage, Ipswich.

T. Blake [email protected]

D. Mewes [email protected]

Memoirs of the Queensland Museum | Culture  2011  5(1) | 53 Thom Blake and David Mewes

When a new apprentice or employee arrived The Workshops were rightly described as “a at the Ipswich Railway Workshops (IRW), it city within a city”, or a “different country”; surely must have been an overwhelming and the sense that it was like another country unforgettable experience. He almost certainly was reinforced by the strict rules regarding would not have encountered anything like it who could enter the site. Understanding before. The extent of the site, the size of the how the Workshops functioned only came buildings, the number of employees, the tasks after spending a lengthy period on the site. This paper explores three aspects of the being undertaken, the extraordinary array of Workshops: machinery and equipment, the cacophony of sounds emanating from the different • how the Workshops were organised; shops, the strange and distinctive smells, the • who worked there and their tasks, language and slang used by the workers, all hierarchy of staff; and combined to make a unique environment. • trade unions The number of employees was more than the Through these three areas a clear picture population of many towns in Queensland. emerges of a self-contained, hierarchical and The interior of the Boiler Shop, Erecting and parochial community that fostered a working Machine Shop, and Carriage Shop were of a camaraderie and a sense of identity that gargantuan scale – larger than any cathedral extended long past the end of employment or other building in the state. at the Workshops (Figure 1).

FIG. 1. Ipswich Railway Workshops staff, c1910. Image courtesy NMA and Whitehead Studios.

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PHYSICAL ORGANISATION OF THE WORKSHOPS

The Ipswich Railway Workshops evolved in three main stages. The first stage was the development of the first workshops (1864- 1885) near the banks of the Bremer River and close to the original terminus of the Ipswich-Toowoomba rail line (Figures 2 and 3). The second stage was an expansion just over a kilometre to the north of the original site in an area known as “the Flats”. The third phase began with a major expansion and modernisation in the early 1900s until the significant reduction of operations in the 1990s. By the early 1880s, the site of the original Ipswich Railway Workshops on the banks of the Bremer River had reached full capacity. Railway lines were being constructed at a hectic pace throughout Queensland. In southern Queensland, the western trunk line was progressing towards Charleville and the FIG. 2. Plan of first Workshops on the banks of the line south from Warwick to the border had Bremer River at North Ipswich (Buchanan Architects reached Stanthorpe by 1881. Suburban lines et al, 1995:8).

FIG. 3. Ipswich Railway Workshops at original site, 1883. Image courtesy TWRM/QR.

Memoirs of the Queensland Museum | Culture  2011  5(1) | 55 Thom Blake and David Mewes were being built in Brisbane to Sandgate Table 1. Details of the main activities and and Wynnum, and a line to the Logan occupations in the ancillary buildings. district commenced construction in 1882 and Building Activity / Occupation extensions to the South Coast were approved Timber storage sheds Stored a large supply of in 1885.1 The expansion of the rail network timber including hard- resulted in a dramatic increase in the amount wood, pine, silky oak, maple for the construc- of rolling stock to be built and assembled, tion and repair of wagons and also repaired and maintained. More and carriages and also for buildings were urgently needed at Ipswich decorative purposes. Supply/store Centrally located for the but room for expansion was extremely convenient distribution of limited. In 1884 the Queensland Government materials required in the decided to expand the Workshops to a new various shops. Power House Provided three forms of site. The area chosen for the Workshops power: electricity, hydrau- expansion was approximately a kilometre to lic and pneumatic. the north of the original site. The area was Canteen Provided meals for staff known as ‘Box Flat’ or ‘the Flats’. Plans for Chief Mechanical Office of the Chief -Me the layout of the Workshops were prepared Engineer’s office chanical Engineer and his staff ; Account’s depart- by H.C. Stanley, the Chief Engineer of the ment (controlled accounts) Southern and Western Railway. Stanley’s – clerks and accountants. plan was intended to improve the efficiency Drawing office Designs prepared for con- struction of rolling stock. of the Workshops compared with the More than 100 drawings original site. The principal feature of the plan were often required for a locomotive. Clerks, was the arrangement of the main buildings draughtsmen, tracers. in two rows separated by sufficient space Timekeepers office Located at the entrance to operate a ‘traveller’. Tracks from each where employees clocked building converged at a common point to the on each day. Clerks. west of the complex. Between 1884 and 1890, General Cleaning and oiling axle- boxes of carriages and six buildings were constructed: the Carriage wagons, carried out by Shop, Wagon and Paint Shop, Blacksmith’s Oiler. Shop, Fitting Shop and Timber Shed (QSA General Attending to the yards surrounding offices and A/8843). workshops and keeping the place in order, carried The arrangement of the Workshops out by Yard Orderly. established in the 1880s and modified by Nisbet (appointed Chief Mechanical Engineer in 1899) in the early 1900s remained • The northern section focussed substantially unaltered for the main working on the supply, manufacture life of the Workshops (Kerr 1990: 96). A and storage of components and fundamental principle of the 1900s layout included the Saw-mill, Upholstery was the need to provide for the most efficient Shop, Wheel Shop, Store, movement of materials, machinery and Blacksmiths, Pattern Shop and rolling stock between the various shops. The Foundry. operating organisation of the workshops • The southern section focussed was an important factor in this. on the assembly, repair and The Workshops (Table 1 and Table 2) were maintenance of rolling stock and divided broadly into three main areas: included the Boiler Shop, Erecting

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Table 2. Details of the main activities and trades in the workshops.

Buildings Activity Main Trades/ Occupations Tarpaulin Shop Dresses tarpaulins and canvas with the various Tarpaulin Dresser dressings. Saw-mill/ K-mill Cutting and dressing timber. Sawyer, Carpenter, Wood Machinist Trimmers/Upholstery All upholstery works were undertaken in this Trimmer, Hair Teaser Shop shop including: seats, beds, wall and floor linings for carriages. Leather goods were also made and repaired in this shop, such as the manufacture and repair of leather goods including door straps, handles and bellows. Wheel Shop All works associated with wheels including repairs Machinist, Turner and fixing new wheels to axles. Blacksmith The Blacksmith shop comprised of more than 50 Blacksmith forges and equipment including drop hammers for the manufacture and repair of a wide range of iron components. Foundry/Moulding Metal goods were produced using patterns, sand Moulder, Boilermaker, Shop boxes and molten metal. These goods included a Cupola Charger wide variety of components for rolling stock and also metal goods used in railway construction. Pattern Shop Manufacture of wooden patterns used in the pro- Pattern Maker duction of locomotive parts. Patterns were used to make a mould for casting metal objects. Boiler Shop Construction and repair of boilers. Also con- Boilermaker, Welder struction of tenders, water-tanks and steel ballast wagons. Erecting and Machine This shop was divided into two parts: the erecting Coppersmith, Tinsmith, Shop shop where locomotives were assembled and re- Fitter, Brass-Fitter, Brake- paired; and the machine shop where components Fitter were manufactured, modified or repaired. Wagon and Carriage Construction and repair of wagons and carriages. Wood Machinist, Wood Shop Turner, Cabinet Maker, Coach Builder, Wagon Builder Paint Shop New and old carriages were painted and deco- Painter, Spray Painter, Sign- rated, plus signage. writer, Stenciller, Glass Cutter

and Machine Shop, Carriage and in the southern group of shops. However, Wagon Shop, and Paint Shop. the ancillary buildings, particularly those • The third section comprised associated with the Chief Engineer and buildings providing ancillary and the Drawing Office, built on the hill, were support services including the perceived as separate from everyday Power House, Chief Mechanical operations and fulfilled an overseeing role. Engineer’s Office, Drawing Office, The organisation of operations into different Canteen, and Timekeeper’s Office. workshops followed the approach used in The demarcation between south and north Britain. This meant that specialised skills workshops was not rigid as the manufacture were built up in particular workshops. This of components and parts was also undertaken was particularly important for workshops

Memoirs of the Queensland Museum | Culture  2011  5(1) | 57 Thom Blake and David Mewes such as the Boiler Shop, where quality A few tradesmen were employed, mainly was a critical factor in the construction of Boilermakers and Blacksmiths, to assemble boilers. Well publicised problems with boiler locomotives and other rolling stock and un- explosions had already led to expansion and dertake necessary repairs and maintenance. improvements in boiler making operations These tradesmen were assisted by a few la- at the workshops (Buchanan, this volume). bourers and apprentices. As the extent of Other innovations such as the establishment work expanded, so did the number of em- of the Power House also affected the internal ployees, gradually increasing to 650 at the workings of workshops, providing energy turn of the century and to more than 3300 on tap for operation of machinery. in the late 1940s (Anon, 1985; QSA A/24204). While the increase in the number of employ- Different components were manufactured ees was a major change in the workforce, in, and moved between different workshops; more significant was the increase in special- for example, wheels for locomotives were ised roles and tasks. The tradition of craft cast in the Foundry, moved to the Machine production where each task was a special- Shop where they were finished on a lathe, ised or distinctive undertaking was firmly fitted with tyres and assembled, and the embedded in the Workshops (Figure 4). finished wheel sets were then moved to the Erecting Shop. The movement of components The classification of the different trades and from one workshop to the next created the occupations operating at the Workshops was link between workshops and the traverser formalised in the 1917 Railways Regulations was a major conduit for this interaction. and Award (Queensland Railways, 1917). The However, the workshops primarily worked regulations provided precise descriptions as independent operations: of every trade and occupation, regardless of how skilled or menial. No less than 107 The Workshops were very strict in those jobs were described. Some were well known days. There were some shops I didn’t see and needed little explanation, such as in twenty years as we were not allowed “Carpenter”, “Painter” and “Blacksmith”. A to leave our posts. Greg Bell Blacksmith was described as an ‘employee The independence of workshops included whose work consists of heating iron, steel, their own management structure of foremen, or other metal in an open fire or furnace and leading hands etc., and specific trades were subsequently working same on an anvil or represented in each of the workshops. The under a steam or other power hammer’. physical location and distribution of work- ...I remember times when the sparks from shops along the traverser track also contrib- welding would go through my shirt... uted to their independence. Competition was When I went into the Blacksmiths Shop a particular feature of the relationships be- in 1947 I had to wear woollen clothes tween the various workshops through time, because of sparks. We wore a flannel shirt with informal cricket matches and even at and serge trousers. Cotton clothes could one stage a garden competition (Buchanan, catch on fire and start smouldering. The this volume). only protective clothing I wore was an apron, made from a piece of leather from the Trimmers Shop. But I remember WORKSHOP EMPLOYEES times when the sparks from welding When the Workshops commenced opera- would go through my shirt, trickle down tions in 1864, the workforce was modest. my tummy and I’d pull my belt aside. It’d

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FIG. 4. Some of the trades represented at the Ipswich Railway Workshops, 1903-1904. Image courtesy TWRM/QR.

go down my trousers and into my boot! Then I was in trouble! From 1953 until 1993 I worked in the forging shop. In the 1950s there were 20 other men there – forgers, drop hammer forgers, assistants and furnacemen. We worked in gangs of four. In the late 1950s we made our own steel bars from recycled scrap iron. We could make 32 bars a day. Later we got steel in bars which the forgers had to cut to size for the blacksmiths. Up to 70 blocks of steel would be cut each day. In 11 days we could make 200 large hooks. Syd Qualischefski (Figure 5) FIG. 5. Syd Qualischefski, Blacksmith Other positions were perhaps unexpected Ipswich Railway Workshop, 1947- at the Workshops but the roles were self- 1993. Image courtesy Lyle Radford.

Memoirs of the Queensland Museum | Culture  2011  5(1) | 59 Thom Blake and David Mewes explanatory. For example, a belt-maker was “engaged in attending to yards surrounding a “leather worker making and repairing offices and workshops, and keeping such belts, and lacing same, for machines, making places in order”. hose and tank pipes, and performing Table 3 provides a breakdown of employees general leather work”. An “oiler” was an in respective occupations in 1934. The ‘employee engaged in the work of cleaning and oiling axle-boxes of carriages and main occupations were Fitters, Turners, wagons’. More obscure were positions such Boilermakers, Blacksmiths, Coachbuilders, as a “hair teaser” (an employee engaged at Moulders, Wagonbuilders and Painters who, the machine for teasing hair for upholstery along with their assistants and apprentices, work), “tarpaulin dresser” (an employee comprised 50 percent of the workforce. By who dresses tarpaulins, canvas, etc with the contrast, there were a range of occupations various dressings), “cupola charger” (an undertaken by single employees including employee engaged in the work of feeding rope splicer, rack sawyer and glazier. coke and metal into the foundry cupola for Whilst there was an enormous variety of smelting purposes) and “spring buckler” (an work across the Workshops and the number employee engaged in the work of pressing of people involved in any one shop was large, the buckles on springs by mechanical or somewhat counter to intuition there was long other appliances). Underlying the work of term occupation of roles, with people staying tradesmen in all the workshops were semi in jobs and in particular workshops for much -skilled labourers known as tradesmen’s of their working lives (Figures 6 and 7). assistants and general labourers. Even the most menial tasks were given a title. Probably This meant that concepts of craftsmanship the lowliest of tasks, apart from the labourer, and specialised roles within a trade were was that of the “yard orderly” who was highly developed:

Table 3. Trades and Occupations – Ipswich Railway Workshops, 1934.

Role # Role # Role # Air Compressor Attendant 1 Exchange Attendant 1 Sandstone Grinder 1 Anglesmith 2 Fire Watchman 2 Sanitary Attendant 2 Apprentice Boilermaker 7 Fireman 1 Saw Doctor 1 Apprentice Blacksmith 4 Fireman Power House 1 Saw Sharpener 1 Apprentice Brassfinisher 1 Fitter 185 Sawyer Auto, Crosscut 1 Apprentice Coachbuilder 4 Flanger’s Assistant 2 Sawyer, Crosscut 1 Apprentice Coach Painter 3 Foreman 10 Sawyer (general joiners) 1 Apprentice Coppersmith 2 Ganger 2 Sawyer (No. 1) 2 Apprentice Electric Fitter 2 Gatekeeper 1 Sawyer (No. 2) 3 Apprentice Fitter 8 Glazier 1 Sawyer, Log Band 1 Apprentice Moulder 8 Grinder and Polisher 1 Screwer and Tapper 5 Apprentice Pattern Maker 1 Horizontal Sawyer 1 Senior Boiler Inspector 1 Apprentice Tinsmith 2 Junior Journeyman 5 Shedman 1 Apprentice Trimmer 1 Labourer 163 Shift Electrician 2 Apprentice Turner 3 Leading Hand Bricklayer 1 Shop Storeman 1 Apprentice Wood machinist 1 Leading Hand Carpenter 1 Shunter 1 Ass’t Engineer Power House 1 Leading Hand Spring Maker 1 Slingsman 1

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Role # Role # Role # Ass’t Mechanical Engineer 4 Lifter 21 Slotter 1 Beltmaker 3 Locomotive checker 2 Spray painter 3 Blacksmith 37 Locomotive Painter 7 Spring Buckler 1 Boiler Attendant 1 Locomotive Shunter 2 Springmaker 4 Boilermaker 61 Machine Grinder 4 Staff Clerk 1 Boilermaker’s Assistant 52 Maintenance Labourer 1 Station Carpenter’s Lab. Boltmaker 1 Marker-out 5 Staymaker 2 Bosh-hand 2 Marker-out, Wagon 1 Stores Distributor 1 Blue Printer 1 Machine Shop Foreman 1 Striker 40 Brassfinisher 30 Messenger 5 Sub-foreman 30 Brass Turner 1 Metal Polisher 3 Sug. & Inven Board Officer 1 Bricklayer 1 Metal Turner 1 Tailor-out 10 Bricklayer’s Labourer 2 Metaller 2 Tapper 1 Cabinet-maker 4 Mill Foreman 1 Tarpaulin Foreman 1 Canvas Worker 14 Miller 6 Tarrer 2 Canvas Worker’s Assistant 3 Motor Oiler 1 Timekeeper 4 Carpenter 7 Moulder 25 Tinsmith 6 Carriage Foreman 7 Moulder’s Furnaceman 4 Tool Foreman 1 Case Hardener 2 Number Taker 1 Toolmaker 5 Carpenter 7 Nutmaker 1 Tool Storeman 1 Carriage Foreman 7 OIC, Wood section 1 Tractor Driver 1 Case Hardener 2 Officer in charge, scheduling 1 Traverser Driver 1 Casting Dresser 2 Officer in charge Metal, Sec. Trimmer 17 Chief Clerk 1 Oiler 4 Tube Brazer 1 Chief Mechanical Engineer 1 Order Clerk 1 Tube Turner 2 Clerk 23 Orderman 1 Tube Tester 4 Coach Fitter leading hand 1 Oxywelder 7 Turner 59 Coachbuilder 72 Painter 14 Tyre Borer 1 Coach painter 24 Painter’s Assistant 1 Tyre Retaining R.R.M. Optr 1 Coalman 1 Painter’s Labourer 8 Wagonbuilder 73 Contract Clerk 1 Pattermaker 7 Wagon Foreman 1 Coppersmith 9 Pattern Storeman 1 Wagon Tarrer 1 Crane Driver 20 Pipe Mounter 1 Watchman 3 Crane Slingsman 7 Planer 5 Westinghouse brake Inspec- 1 tor Cupola Charger 7 Plate Furnaceman 1 Westinghouse brake 1 instructor Draftsman 6 Plumber 8 Wheel Foreman 1 Driller 14 Pneumatic driller and tap- 21 Wheel Furnaceman 1 per Driller & Tapper 4 Puncher & Shearer 1 Wheelgrinder 1 Electric Mechanic 4 Rack Sawyer 1 White Metal Worker 2 Electric Welder 4 Rail Motor Inspector 1 Wood machinist 12 Electrical Fitter 21 Record Clerk 1 Woodturner 1 Electroplater 2 Rolling-stock Clerk 1 Workshops Driver 1 Engine-driver and oiler 2 Rope Splicer 1

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FIG. 6. Staff of the Trimmers shop, Ipswich Railway Workshops, Christmas 1903. Image courtesy TWRM/QR.

FIG. 7. Trimmers at Ipswich Railway Workshops, c.1911. Image courtesy NMA and Whitehead Studios.

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...Even though the work was dirty, dusty following day the carriage was rubbed and hot I lasted 49 years and 3 months... back and two coats of gloss enamel were I joined the railways in 1942 when part applied over the next two days. The of the Moulding Shop had been moved trades assistants painted the roof, bogies, to Barbetts’ old foundry to cope with the battery boxes and underframe. The shop wartime demand. The Workshops made was hot in summer and extremely cold in the big 20 to 30 ton castings. It was so winter as it was the closest to the river. busy the moulders had to work a 6 day Fires had to be lit to allow the paint to week. In about 1943 we all moved back to dry – not to keep the painters warm! At the Workshops which made the moulding any one time in the 1950s there could up shop really overcrowded. We had 60 to to 12 carriages in the shop and another 80 tradesmen in the shop as well as 12 in the burning off shed. Carriage apprentices and labourers. When I painters painted new and old carriages, started I promised my father I would last both inside and out. French polishers my three month probation. Even though would assist with the interiors. Keith the work was dirty, dusty and hot I lasted McDonald 49 years and 3 months! In the early days we had so much work you could pick Working conditions were variable between your job. The pattern storeman would shops. The heat and dust of the Blacksmith bring over the order, pattern and core box and Moulders shops were a great contrast to the coolness and cleanliness of the Pattern and line them up. Shops trying to jump Shop (Figures 8 and 9). The Pattern Shop the queue dealt with the foreman. After was an essential part of the Foundry. Here, 15 years in brasswork I could turn my skilled carpenters produced the wooden pat- hand to anything brass. “Tom” Vic Kay terns for use in making the moulds in the ...I was twelve when I became an Foundry in preparation for casting. apprentice... I was twelve when I became an ...The senior tradesmen in the shop passed on this skill to each generation... apprentice carriage painter in the paint Depending on the job we [Pattern Makers] shop. I worked there until 1962. Each worked on our own or in teams of two. day was different. Each day I changed We worked with timber and our tools into my paint clothes that were stored of trade were planing machines, saws, in a cupboard and retrieved my tools chisels and carving tools. We produced from another and waited for the foreman patterns for every part of the locomotive. to assign each of us the day’s task. If a An order would come to the shop with carriage had come in for a complete the drawings from the draftsman office. overhaul several of us would have to A pattern maker then “marked out” the burn off the old paint and prepare it for object on a wooden board giving extra the Carriage Shop. When the carriage allowance needed for the machine blades was repaired it would be shunted back and the amount of shrinkage in the metal to the Paint Shop where one of us would when it cooled. He then cut out the prime the carriage and fill any holes with pattern. It was a precise science knowing stopping putty and rub it back. A painter the different amounts that iron, steel, would add one coat of red oxide primer brass and aluminium would shrink and and the next day two men would apply what allowance to include. The senior two coats of grey brushing surfacer. The tradesmen in the shop passed on this skill

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to each generation. The Pattern Shop was a good shop to work in. Big doors at the end of the shop and windows along the side kept it cool. It was a clean shop to work in, with a wooden floor. Some of the older men came to work in a coat and vest but worked with a white apron over their shirts. These aprons stayed remarkably clean. Colin Ford

...work was highly skilled but could be dangerous... I worked in the Moulders Shop from 1943 until 1966. When I started there were 76 FIG. 8. Interior of Blacksmiths’ Shop, Ipswich other moulders as well as apprentices, Railway Workshops, 1910. Image courtesy NMA and Whitehead Studios. labourers, crane drivers, furnacemen and casting dressers. I remember that moulding was a very hard and heavy job. We worked two men to a machine and made 1000 brake boxes each day. Other moulders made engine cylinders and engine components. Molten metal was taken from the furnace by cranes and poured into hand pulled ladles at each machine. Iron casting was done each day between 1pm and 3.45pm. At times the furnaces would “freeze up” causing delays. Sometimes molten metal would spill and cause large fireworks displays as it hit the ground, concrete or steel FIG. 9. Interior of Pattern Shop, Ipswich Railway plates. Our work was highly skilled but Workshops, 1910. Image courtesy NMA and could be dangerous. Jim Penman Whitehead Studios. The variety of trades, positions and working conditions in individual workshops across the site as a whole meant that the organisational Chief Mechanical Engineer and Workshops structure of the Ipswich Railway Workshops Superintendent, and Chief Mechanical was complex. Engineer (Table 4). This position was a senior position within the Railways Department ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE and answered directly either to the Deputy Commissioner or Commissioner of Railways. Within the Railways Department, the The Chief Mechanical Engineer had an active Workshops was the responsibility of the position that was variously known role in the administration of the Ipswich as Locomotive and Rollingstock Workshops and for an extended period, his Superintendent, Locomotive Engineer, office was based on site.

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From the 1860s to the 1980s, the organisational Superintendent was directly responsible structure of the Workshops remained for the management of workshops. As substantially unchanged (Figures 10-12). In the number of staff and output increased, the infancy of the Workshops, the Locomotive the day to day management became the Table 4. Chief Engineers

Chief Engineers 30/9/1863 – 1864 A. C. FITZGIBBON Southern & Western Railway 1902 N. BELL 1902 – 1911 W. PAGAN Locomotive Engineers 1867 – 1869 J. F. L. JETTER Superintendent (1865-1869) 1869 – 1874 H. DAVIES Superintendent (1869-1871) 1874 – 1883 J. W. BEDFORD Superintendent (1871-1876) 1883 – 1899 H. HORNIBLOW Superintendent (1876-1883) Locomotive Engineer (1883-1899) 1899 – 1901 W. H. NISBETT Chief Mechanical Engineer 1901 – 1904 G. W. NUTT Chief Mechanical Engineer 1904 – 1910 H. HORNIBLOW Locomotive Engineer 1910 R. T. DARKER Locomotive Engineer 1910 – 1911 C. F. PEMBERTON Locomotive Engineer 1911 – 1915 C. F. PEMBERTON Chief Mechanical Engineer 1915 – 1916 J. E. ROBERTSON Chief Mechanical Engineer 1916 – 1918 J. E. ROBERTSON Divisional Mechanical Engineer and Workshops Manager 1918 – 1921 C. F. PEMBERTON Chief Mechanical Engineer 1921 – 1925 J. E. ROBERTSON Divisional Mechanical Engineer and Workshops Manager 1925 – 1940 R. J. CHALMERS Chief Mechanical Engineer 1940 – 1943 A. S. DEACON Divisional Mechanical Engineer and Workshops Manager 1943 – 1953 V. J. HALL Divisional Mechanical Engineer and Workshops Manager 1953 – 1970 W. A. CASTLEY Chief Mechanical Engineer and Workshops Superintendent 1970 – 1974 C. A. TURNER Chief Mechanical Engineer & Workshops Superintendent 1974 – 1986 J. E. JEFFCOAT Chief Mechanical Engineer 1986 – 1989 W. J. ADAMSON Assistant Commissioner Workshops, Maintenance Facilities 1986 – 1989 K. W. WOOD Chief Mechanical Engineer Workshops – Group General Managers 1992 – 1999 T. C. FISHER Group General Manager of Workshops 1999 – 2003 B. BOCK Group General Manager of Workshops 2003 – 2005 A. TAYLOR Group General Manager of Workshops 2006 – 2008 L. J. COOPER Group General Manager of Workshops 2008 – 2010 T. GASSMAN Acting Group General Manager RACS* * RACS, Rolling Stock and Component Services

Memoirs of the Queensland Museum | Culture  2011  5(1) | 65 Thom Blake and David Mewes

FIG. 10. Ipswich Railway Workshops Organisational Structure 1879.

FIG. 11. Ipswich Railway Workshops Organisational Structure 1910.

FIG. 12. Ipswich Railway Workshops Organisational Structure 1988.

66 | Memoirs of the Queensland Museum | Culture  5(1)  2011 A different country – the organisation of Ipswich Railway Workshops responsibility of a Works Manager who a smooth finish and close fit. It was hard later became known as the Workshops work. After years of studying at night I Superintendent. Foremen had oversight of earned my diploma in engineering and the individual workshops in their entirety in 1957 I joined the drawing office as an and sections within the Workshops. Senior Acting Assistant Draftsman. Through Foremen who were later known as Managers persistence I worked my way up the were responsible for groups of workshops or ranks until my retirement as a Senior sections. Designing Mechanical Engineer in The grouping of workshops under managers 1995. Bill Scriven changed over time however the focus of indi- Tradesmen, together with their apprentices, vidual workshops remained static over much made up the bulk of the workforce across of the working life of the site. As this account various workshops. It is not surprising by Bill Scriven shows however, there was the then that apprenticeships are often vividly opportunity for promotion from within the recalled by employees. ranks of tradesmen:

...Through persistence I worked my way up the ranks.... APPRENTICES When I finished junior in 1947 the From the outset of the Workshops, railway was a large source of employment apprentices or “lads” were an integral part so I sat for the railway exam. Depending of the workforce. While they often were on your pass you were given a choice initially given the most menial tasks, the of trade. When my turn came I was need to train and develop local tradesmen offered carriage building or fitting. I was a high priority. The practice was to take wasn’t interested in timber work and I apprentices on trial to see which trade they like fixing bikes and things so I thought were best suited, whether it be a Blacksmith, there was more scope in fitting. During Carpenter or Fitter (QVP 1879: 555). my five year apprenticeship as a fitter I spent six months in the different shops ...After 4 months I changed to pattern learning all aspects of the trade. The making... sub-foreman in each shop would allocate I joined the railway as an apprentice you to a tradesman who would give trimmer on 1 April 1940. After 4 months you your practical training. Some were I changed to pattern making which excellent tradesmen and teachers. But remained my trade for 45 years. As an they were hard task masters. I had to aim apprentice I was put with a tradesman for perfection and keep working until the – John Ross – who then taught me my fit was good enough. Some tradesman trade for the next five years. I was given would give us the hardest tasks to do a work bench with an ordinary wooden and call it good training. I enjoyed vice. As an apprentice I got my tools my apprenticeship and it gave me an excellent grounding in the trade. In those together. The Department gave me tools days most things were hand fitted. The that I gradually paid off and I bought the Machine Shop would make the bearings rest from other patternmakers. When I to rough stage but we would have to use finished my apprenticeship I was given hammers and chisels to cut it to size my own bench with a really good metal and then rough and smooth files to get vice. Colin Ford

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Apprentices were given an exam before over eighteen years of age, and shall being taken on to see whether they could be of sound constitution. They shall read and write. At the 1879 Select Committee produce satisfactory certificates as to on the Railway Workshops, the Locomotive conduct and ability from the masters Superintendent Henry Horniblow was of the schools in which they have somewhat critical of the apprentices at the studied, and shall pass a preliminary Workshops as he felt the “boys here do examination in the following subjects not keep as steady to it as they do in the English grammar and composition, old country”. He thought that some of the mensuration of surfaces and apprentices were too interested in cricket solids, algebra, plane trigonometry, and other sports and had it too easy. He told the elements of mechanics, and the Committee that when he was a boy he geometrical drawing (Queensland “had to get up at half-past 5 o’clock in the Railways 1917:64). darkest mornings to go to work at six o’clock but these boys do not go until eight” (QVP Later, the Railways Department introduced 1879: 555). The foreman of the Blacksmith’s an apprenticeship system to select potential department, James Suett also complained apprentices. The top students would be about the apprentices, declaring that: interviewed in order of their results by the you cannot get boys here to do as senior staff and offered an apprenticeship. they do at home. It is only dint of There was a hierarchy. The top student almost persuasion and yielding to their little always chose the electrician’s apprenticeship. hobbies sometimes, and by talking The next favourite was pattern making. and explaining to them, that you can Boiler making was the least popular because get them on (QVP 1879: 610). it was a noisy and difficult trade.

Similar sentiments were no doubt expressed This close training was more intense than again and again as each generation of outside the Workshops... workers felt that they worked harder in I always had an inkling that I wanted more difficult circumstances than the “new” to do a trade – or at least my parents generation. did. I applied for an apprenticeship electrician’s position at the Ipswich In the nineteenth century boys were assigned Workshops in 1952. I was interviewed by to the different shops and learnt their trade Jim Hogan and Harry Francis. Graham through practical experience. The process Kruger started with me and there was became more formal in 1916 when railway an intake of 17 others later that year. We apprentices began to be required to attend started off spending two years working theory classes at the Ipswich Technical in the Power House getting an intensive College. The entry requirements were also training in the tools of trade and general formalised in the 1917 Railway regulations. electrical work. We worked with hand Trade apprentices had to be of a “sound tools, lathes and drills. I trained with 27 constitution and be able to read and write guys in the Power House. Don McKenzie with facility, and have a knowledge of was our boss. In third year we moved to arithmetic as far as the compound rules”. The the main shop where James Laurenson requirements for mechanical engineering was the foreman. One or two apprentices apprentices were more onerous: were assigned to each tradesman and They shall not be under sixteen nor by helping him we learned our trade.

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This close training was more intense given new work to learn the trade. We than outside the Workshops. Brian learnt by watching the older tradesmen. McNamara The qualified blacksmiths got the repair ...we learnt by watching the older work. The foreman handed out the tasks tradesmen... each day on a written order form. … with I joined the Workshops in April 1952 the drop hammers going all day, this and completed my apprenticeship as a shop was a noisy place to work. Greg Boilermaker in 1957. … The Boiler Shop Bell (Figure 13). was a dirty, hot, and hard place to work. But there were also fun times as the The experiences of new apprentices at older fellows were very good to the new the Workshops were variable; some were boilermakers and taught us the trade. In overwhelmed by the size of the Workshops those years we mainly worked with steam and the numbers of people and jobs. Most locomotives and occasionally built steel quickly found their niche and enjoyed their wagons. Grahame Stokes experiences and the sense of camaraderie.

FIG. 14. Barry Bruce, Plumber, Ipswich Railway Workshops. Image courtesy Lyle Radford. FIG. 13. Greg Bell, Blacksmith, Ipswich Railway Workshops, 1952-2002. Image ...It was a great place to learn anything courtesy Lyle Radford. and I mean anything...

...there were also fun times... After working as an apprentice moulder On my first day as an apprentice at Scotts foundry for 4 months I was offered a job as an apprentice plumber blacksmith in summer 1952, I remember at the Workshops in 1972. I was 15 ½. standing beside the fires and thinking “I’ll The Workshops were enormous. The only last one day”. It was unbelievably place was huge, there were 3000 people hot. But I retired from the same shop 50 and the scope of work was incredible. The years later! The striker was my offsider Workshops was a complete community. I and it was his job each morning to light spent 6 months in the Sheet Metal Shop, the fires and to keep up my supply of then I moved around all the shops to get a steel. When I was an apprentice I was good training in all parts of the trade. We

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did drainage, maintenance and worked with an enormous number of people, up on old carriages. The Sunlanders were to 200 in one day. It was a wonderful only 7 or 8 years old then and I worked grounding I’ll never forget. I did my on their reconditioning. We pulled college theory classes for one day a week everything out – all the pipes and tanks – during my first three years. My year was and completely refurbished it. Fantastic the first to have a 4 year apprenticeship experience. I started off terrified but soon and we had to do the theory at night realised it was good fun because of the classes in fourth year. I was plumbing people I worked with. It was a great place apprentice of the year in Queensland in to learn anything and I mean anything. my first year which gave me a 5 percent Barry Bruce (Figure 14) pay rise. A big part was the social life. Although the drinking age was 21 the The Workshops was a major centre for tradesmen would take us to the pub. apprentice training, not only for boys from There was also parties for Christmas, Ipswich but from throughout Queensland. retirements and birthdays. I made By the 1950s the number of apprentices had lifelong friends. Barry Bruce grown to the extent that theory classes were held on site. Initially classes were conducted Until the 1980s, all apprentices were in a room in the Dining Room and later a male. Anita Branch was one of the female purpose built apprenticeship training centre apprentices at the Workshops. was constructed. ...There had only been one other female apprentice before us...... the training we got was second to none... I started my apprenticeship as an electrical The electricians in the main shop were fitter/ mechanic in 1987. I went through excellent tradesmen and they took great with one other female, Danielle Brown, pride in their work. I believe the training but she was a sheetmetal worker. There we got was second to none. In third and had only been one other female apprentice fourth year I had classes at the Ipswich before us. I saw an advertisement in the Technical College two nights a week and paper for railway apprentices and sat the one afternoon for practical work. The exam. I was then called for an interview night classes were 3 hours long. I lived at in front of 4 or 5 men and asked why I Walloon and had to catch a goods train wanted to join the railways.There were back to Rosewood after 10pm. It could 11 electrical apprentices in my year and be after midnight when I got home and most of us were only 17. We all started in I had to start work again at 7.30am. It the training centre at the Workshops and was better in my fourth year because my over the next 4 years we did some turning, father bought a car and he could collect fitting and a little bit of boilermaking. We me. I stayed at the Workshops until covered the basics in nearly all trades, 1965. My training was an excellent specialising in electrical. I worked with grounding for the rest of my career. the older, experienced tradesmen. They Brian McNamara were very intelligent, with a lot of knowledge to pass on. I have the utmost ...I made lifelong friends... respect for them. We did theory at the Working with the tradesmen taught TAFE College, either Bremer or Yeronga, young people to be on an equal footing in three courses of 7 weeks over the 4 with 40 to 50 year olds. I learnt to deal years. If I had done year 12 like some

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FIG. 15. Apprentices at the Ipswich Railway Workshops, 1983. Image courtesy TWRM/QR. of the others it would have helped a bit. century. Union membership became The railway was unprepared for female compulsory for all employees and the unions apprentices and we had to wear the were active in improving conditions and men’s clothes. Danielle made her own. wages. Like the men I was given a grey shirt The situation was rather different in the and trousers. They were huge around my nineteenth century. Unions or member waist but I just had to hold them up with associations were often treated by the my belt. Anita Branch government and administration with The presence of apprentices was an important suspicion and at times even contempt. feature in the working organisation of In the 1879 Select Committee on Railway the Workshops site and tradesmen who Workshops, Ipswich employees were undertook apprenticeships at the Ipswich questioned on a number of occasions Railway Workshops spread wide across the about the involvement of trade unions. The Queensland Rail network and even further locomotive foreman, Richard Darker was afield (Figure 15). One other area had an quizzed as to whether he had any problems important part to play in the organisational in dealing with men in consequence of ‘trade functioning of the Workshops and this was combinations’ (QVP 1879: 603). James Suett, the presence and activities of Trade Unions. Blacksmith Foreman, was interrogated at length about his involvement with the Amalgamated Society of Engineers. He went TRADE UNIONS AND THE WORKSHOPS into detail to explain that the object of the Society was simply to benefit members: Trade Unions have played a major role within the Workshops since the early twentieth It is a benefit society for the purpose

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of assisting each other in case of twentieth century, unions became more accident, such as blindness by acceptable. Their role in industrial affairs chippings, or loss of sight or any was well and truly cemented when the Labor other accident, or sickness, or to keep Party attained office in its own right in 1915. a family with a loaf of bread in the The 1917 regulations relating to railway staff house when there is a depression of contained provisions that recognised the role trade (QVP 1879: 610). of “union representatives” in the Workshops. The regulations stated: When questioned whether society mem- bers were willing to strike, Suett explained Employees who are the chosen that strikes were “entirely against all the representatives of their fellow desires and principles of the society” (QVP employees shall in the mutual 1879: 610). Clearly the Select Committee was interests of the Commissioner and attempting to ascertain whether the - Amal the employees, be allowed reasonable gamated Society of Engineers was likely to time to investigate any matter likely encourage strike action at the Workshops. to lead to dispute between the Indeed, an article in The Week newspaper Commissioner and his employees five years later suggested that the reason the relative to working conditions. Select Committee had been established was a (Queensland Railways, 1917: 28) desire to address the alleged “industrial and The acceptance of unions in the Workshops political abuses” in the Workshops – or in was reflected in the 1918 Royal Commission other words, the growing influence of trade on the administration of Railways in unions (Anon, 1884). The Select Commit- Queensland. A number of employees from tee had been formed shortly after the McIl- the Ipswich Workshops referred to the role of wraith government had come to power and unions in giving evidence to the Commission. was keen to curtail union influence. A num- Unlike the 1879 Select Committee, none ber of dismissals occurred in the Workshops were challenged or questioned about union ostensibly because of a decline in work. The membership and the activity of unions (QPP Week, however, was emphatic that employ- 1918: 163, 447, 472, 501, 505, 641). ees were dismissed for political reasons. Workshop employees were represented by The attempt by the government to curtail a wide range of unions and reflected the the union movement had little impact at the diversity in trades and skills. Unions with Workshops. During the 1880s employees representation included: joined existing societies as well as newly Moulders’ Union created unions such as the Queensland Railway Employees’ Association (QREA) Boilermaker’s Society which was formed in 1886. Coachmakers’ Federation The union movement generally suffered Blacksmiths’ Society a setback after the shearers and maritime Australian Railway Union strikes of the early 1890s. Political action Federated Ironworkers of Australia rather than militant industrial action was Queensland Railway Union regarded as the means of achieving the goals Amalgamated Metal Workers’ Union of the union movement. With the growing electoral support for the Australian Labor Building Workers Industrial Union Party and its political influence in the early Vehicle Builders’ Federation

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Electrical Trades Union peaceful. Miners, headed by the Blackstone Australian Workers’ Union Band, formed a procession and marched through the city streets to the Workshops in Over time, some unions merged with others time for the lunch break. or altered their names. By 1918, a combined unions committee was formed to negotiate The Workshops employees were said to have with management, in order to enhance the largely ignored their presence and either effectiveness of the unions (QPP, 1918: 505). went home as usual for lunch or went to the Unions were consulted on a wide range Dining Hall (QSA RSI4219-1-223, RSI4219-1- of matters. For example, when the Chief 224, RSI4219-1-225). The exception was the Mechanical Engineer proposed to introduce staff of the Westinghouse Brake Company a new timekeeping system in 1925, he who were at the Workshops to facilitate the consulted with all unions represented at change-over to the new brake system. Led the Workshops, demonstrating the growing by Frank Cooper, they immediately stopped power of the union movement, compared work and joined the miners outside the gates. with attitudes in the 1880s (QSA A/24514). After work, however, 500 railway men joined another street parade and within days, all Strikes were not uncommon. Some railway employees had been ordered by their concerned local matters and were confined unions to strike. At the Workshops, 1251 men to issues relating to conditions in the went on strike. Another 204, the “loyalists”, Workshops. Other strike action was part of refused to strike and were paid for turning wider industrial action throughout. Two of up to work, even if they were unable to the more notable strikes were in 1912 and perform any useful tasks. Commissioner 1948 (QSA RSI4219-1-223, RSI4219-1-224, Evans visited the site and enrolled some of RSI4219-1-225; QT, January to March 1912). the loyalists as special constables. Picketing The 1912 general strike began over the then began at the gates and soon a “posse of right of a Brisbane tramways employee to mounted constables” was needed to protect wear a union badge on his uniform. The the loyalists. The State Governor issued a manager of the tramways was an anti-union proclamation, ordering a return to order. American, ironically named Joseph Badger. The following day, nearly all Workshops His objection to the badges resulted in a employees returned to work and were met strike which soon spread to other industries. at the entrance by the Commissioner Charles In Ipswich, the miners went on strike, but Evans. railway employees were initially reluctant In contrast, the miners remained on strike. to become involved, although they refused Within a few weeks, the railways were short to transport coal for the Tramways. Mass of coal and a steam train fueled with wood meetings were held at lunchtime outside the was run on the Brisbane Valley line as a trial. gates of the Workshops, and in the evening at The miners finally resumed work after a the city’s favourite rallying point, the Blackall stoppage of five weeks (QRAR, 1911-12; QT, Fountain at the intersection of Brisbane and 19 February 1912, 21 February 1912). The Nicholas Streets. strike had a lingering effect. A newspaper On 2 February 1912, “Black Friday”, there report commented that there was “not the was street violence in Brisbane and a number same friendly spirit” among employees of people were injured as strikers battled at the Workshops and a few weeks later, a police and specially-sworn-in constables. Power House employee was sacked when he In Ipswich that same day, the protests were called another man a scab (QT, 20 February

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1912). Frank Cooper had continued to take violence in Brisbane when a railway unionist a prominent role in the dispute. He was and a waterside worker were injured by dismissed from his job with Westinghouse police during a protest and solicitor Fred at the Workshops but remained in Ipswich. Paterson was cudgelled by a detective and Within three years, he had been elected to sustained concussion. There were no major Parliament and eventually became Premier disturbances at the Workshops, although of Queensland (Cross, 2006). police had to patrol the railway Roundhouse There were many other smaller strikes at after some workers obeyed the order to return the Workshops including a Moulders’ Strike to work. There was also some picketing, and in 1941 which attracted criticism because it claims that local businesses were “black occurred during World War II. One of the banned” if they refused to donate to the bitterest disputes however was the state- strike fund (Fitzgerald 1984; QT, 28 February wide Railway Strike of 1948 which lasted 1948, 1 March 1948, 25 March 1948). The from 3 February to 6 April. The nine week strike ground on for two months and ended strike initially grew out of dissatisfaction at with little or no gain for either side (QT Feb- the Queensland government’s unwillingness April 1948). to grant wage increases for boilermakers, After the strike, the workers ultimately blacksmiths and other metal workers. The obtained the wage increase they had sought. railway workers were protesting at the This strike, which had its origins in the Industrial Court’s delays in processing a log Ipswich Workshops, became a landmark of claims, and within days, 23,000 railway in the history of industrial relations in workers were reported to be on strike (QT, 1 Queensland as one of the ‘most viciously June 1941, 5 February 1948). contested conflicts’ in the immediate post Some of the bitterness arose because the World War II period (QT, Feb-April 1948). Premier, Ned Hanlon, was a Labor politician and a former railway man himself. Hanlon CONCLUSION refused to negotiate directly with railway workers, insisting they keep within the Throughout its existence, the Ipswich arbitration system (Murphy and Joyce, 1978). Railway Workshops have continued to Mass meetings were held outside the Railway provide employment and training. The Workshops and at the Wintergarden Theatre structure and organisation of the workplace, in Ipswich. Every train in Queensland while changing with new technology and stopped running and buses struggled to altering functions and names, remained provide a commuter service. In Ipswich, substantially the same (Figure 16). The the rail strike led to many coal miners being emphasis on various workshops and the stood down, throwing an extra 1800 men realities of the different working conditions out of work. As the state ground to a halt, perpetuated the traditions of the separate Hanlon declared a State of Emergency and workshops. Despite working conditions police were given extra-ordinary powers. changing over the last hundred years, the The railway men were ordered back to work, Ipswich Railway Workshops have continued but most refused to do so (QT, 9 February operating as an entity. The most profound 1948, 13 February 1948, 27 February 1948). effect on the workshops was externally Much of the comment about the strike imposed with the change from steam to blamed Communist agitators. There was diesel locomotives.

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...everything had changed... needed. Plastic replaced metal engine When I returned to the Boiler Shop in components. “Tom” Vic Kay 1984 everything had changed. There These changes brought the Ipswich Railway were no longer steam locomotives to Workshops to a new phase of operation. work on. We mainly repaired metal The construction and maintenance of diesel wagons. The trade had largely changed locomotives was centred at Redbank while a from traditional boilermakers to sheet much scaled down operation within specific metal fabricators. Occasionally I workshops has continued, focused on worked on the heritage fleet as I was heritage operations (Mewes, this volume). one of the few men who could repair a tube in a firebox or fix a boiler. I retired The character of the workshops, established through the organisational structure has from the Workshops in November 1997. nevertheless continued with working teams Grahame Stokes in the Blacksmith, Steam shop, Paint shop When diesel locomotives were built and Carriage shop, a shadow reflecting the in the 1960s fewer moulders were spirit and presence of all those before.

FIG. 16. Interior of Erecting shop, Ipswich Railway Workshops, 1910. Image courtesy NMA and Whitehead Studios.

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LITERATURE CITED

QT Queensland Times Queensland Parliamentary Papers (QPP). 1918. Royal Commission on the administration of the railways in Queensland. Queensland Anon. 1985. ‘Ipswich Railway Workshops 1885- Parliamentary Papers, 1918, Vol 2. (Government 1985’. Queensland Railways Digest Vol 2. Printer: Brisbane). Anon. 1884. The Week, 31 May 1884. Queensland Railways, 1917. Regulations relating Buchanan Architects, Ove Arup & Partners, & to the Appointment, Classification, Etc., of the Grimwade, G. 1995. North Ipswich Railyards: A Railway Staff, and Awards Affecting Railway Conservation Assessment. Unpublished report to Employees, 1917. (Anthony James Cumming, Queensland Rail, Brisbane. Government Printer: Brisbane). Cross, M. 2006. ‘Cooper, Frank Arthur (1872 Queensland Railways Annual Reports (QRAR), - 1949)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition. (Australian National University: 1911-12. Report of the Commissioner for Railways Canberra). Accessed from 1911, 1912. (Government Printer: Brisbane). http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/ Queensland State Archives (QSA): QSA Item A130546b.htm. ID A/8843, Statement of expenditure, Ipswich Fitzgerald, R. 1984. From 1915 to the early 1980s. Railway Workshops; QSA Item ID A/24204, (University Queensland Press: Queensland). Return of men employed in the Ipswich Shops, 24 June 1904; QSA Item ID A/24514, Chief Mechanical Kerr, J. 1990. Triumph of the Narrow Gauge: a history Engineer, memo dated 20 November 1925; QSA of Queensland Railways. (Booralong Publications: Press: Brisbane). Item ID RSI 4219-1-223, 224 and 225. Murphy D.J. & Joyce R.B. 1978. Queensland Political Queensland Votes And Proceedings (QVP). Portraits, 1859-1952. (University Queensland 1879. Report of Select Committee on Railway Press: Queensland). Workshops. (Government Printer: Brisbane).

 ENDNOTES

1. The rail network in Queensland expanded from 1287km in 1881 to 3533km in 1891 – a threefold increase

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